Significant Digits For Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018

4.6 continuing resolutions

Average number of continuing resolutions per fiscal year since 1977, which allow Congress to keep the government open without a fresh new budget due by Oct. 1. The current continuing resolution expires today. [FiveThirtyEight]

8 hours

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gave a speech to the House of Representatives yesterday highlighting the stories of DACA recipients that went on for eight hours, making it at least the longest continuous speech in the chamber’s history dating back to 1909, when Rep. Champ Clark (D-Mo.) spoke for 5 hours and 15 minutes. [The Washington Post]

12 times as many trades

The best way to manage your 401k is to not actively manage your investments, essentially picking an investment strategy and sticking to it, examining risks beforehand, and letting the strategy go forward with minimal interference despite short term gains or falls. Lots and lots of people did not do that during the market plunges of the past week. Rather than following the bold financial acumen I demonstrate by “forgetting my Fidelity password” in times of struggle (and also not struggle), 401(k) savers as usual sold stocks at 12 times the usual pace on Monday just as they were plunging, thus unable to make back the gains those assets would have in subsequent days. [Bloomberg]

14 lawsuits

Alabama is launching a lawsuit against Perdue Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes OxyContin, a core accelerant of the opioid crisis gripping the nation. In addition to a multistate investigation and 200 lawsuits by cities, counties and other municipalities over the opioid epidemic, 14 states are now suing Perdue. [Reuters]

50,000 meals

That’s the number of meals FEMA contractor Tiffany Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur, had delivered to Puerto Rico at the time that her contract with the government stipulated she needed to have delivered 18.5 million meals. [The New York Times]

$400 million

The Federal Reserve sanctioned Wells Fargo late last Friday, banning the bank from growing until it fixes the problems it has by improving the risk controls and compliance issues it has in retail sales. This asset cap could cost Wells Fargo an estimated $400 million in profit, and thus S&P cut its long term credit rating from A to A- on Wednesday. [Bloomberg]